Owensboro Catholic took a solid lead early and was able to just hold on for a 3-2 win over Ohio County Tuesday night to advance to the Region 3 girls soccer championship.
The Lady Aces (13-6-1) got two goals from Lily Moore on their way to a 3-0 lead before the Lady Eagles (10-8-2) started a strong counterattack.
Owensboro Catholic head coach Kelli Brannock said she expected another tough match after the teams played to a 2-2 draw earlier in the season. After controlling the game early, her team had to hold strong to survive and advance.
“Ohio County didn’t give up,” she said. “Give them credit. I’m proud of the way the girls fought. We had a fast start, but you’ve got be able to play the whole 80 minutes. But we’ll take it and move on.”
Moore put the Lady Aces up 1-0 less than five minutes in when she got a ball near midfield and beat the defense. A light touch got her past the goalkeeper for an easy goal from the middle of the box.
Moore scored again in the 17th minute when she shot from the left and was able to get it over the reach of the keeper for a 2-0 lead.
Owensboro Catholic got their final goal 10 minutes later when Ashton Logsdon scored just in front of the net. Her initial shot was deflected, but the ball was crossed back in to her. A second blocked shot came right back to her, and Logsdon was finally able to put one in the net.
Ohio County was able to apply heavy pressure the remainder of the half and got one goal from Keely Addington before the break.
Carley Embry got the Lady Eagles within one midway through the second half, and they had a few more opportunities late. Ohio County was able to use speed to get deep, but the Lady Aces were able to hold them off long enough for a victory.
“They are a quick team,” Brannock said. “They’ve got a couple of real good strikers. We did what we needed to. We’re going to regroup and get ready to go for Thursday.”
She said there’s not much the team needs to do before heading into another meeting with Daviess County.
“Bottom line is we have to come out for all 80 minutes and finish out opportunities,” Brannock said. “It’s as simple as that. That’s soccer.”
The Lady Aces advance to the championship match Thursday for a fourth game against Daviess County (10-5-2), who beat Meade County 2-1 in the other semifinal. Daviess County beat the Lady Aces 6-1 in the District 9 championship, though Owensboro Catholic won both regular season matches 2-1 in shootouts.
The championship was originally scheduled to be played at Meade County, but will possibly be moved to an Owensboro location. Tournament officials will make the decision today on to location and time of the match.
